Despite Workers’ Beliefs to the Contrary, Knowledge of Environmental Cleaning Lacking

Most respondents to a survey of environmental service workers believe that they have “more than enough” education to perform their jobs effectively but still answered key questions incorrectly, according to survey results published in the February 2013 American Journal of Infection Control. Most of the respondents (59%) had five or more years of experience; the majority (54%) stated that they had “more than enough” education on the importance of environmental cleaning to prevent infections, while an additional 26% stated that they had received just the right amount. Despite this feeling among the workers, only 10% correctly identified that Clostridium difficile is more commonly spread via contaminated environmental services than influenza or tuberculosis, and only 15% correctly identified that bleach is necessary to kill *C.